Two thirds of Asia ‘not delighted’ with digital experience: SAP

SINGAPORE - A significant digital gap exists between the best and worst performing brands across all markets in Asia Pacific, according to a new research study by SAP.

The report found that nearly two thirds (65 percent) of respondents were not delighted with their digital experience.

Even in countries where there are more delighted than unsatisfied consumers, there is a considerable difference in performance among industries and between the best and worst performing brands.
 
Assessing more than 700 large brands across the region, the study also uncovered strong correlations between digital-experience performance and key business-performance metrics such as customer loyalty and advocacy.

Consumers who are delighted with their digital experiences are more than five-and-a-half times more likely to remain loyal to a brand than those who are unsatisfied.

Only 13 percent of unsatisfied respondents would remain loyal. On average, customers delighted with the digital experience delivered a Net Promoter Score of 67 percent compared to a score of -66 percent from those who were unsatisfied.

Adaire Fox-Martin, president, SAP Asia Pacific and Japan said it is Asia’s “moment for digital” and that the connection between the digital experience and business outcomes, particularly customer loyalty and advocacy, highlights the urgency at which brands in the region must drive the digital experience to thrive in the digital economy.

 “Failure to do this will see brands left behind by new, non-traditional players prepared to seize the opportunity and deliver digital experiences that delight,” he added.

Data privacy and personalisation preferences

The link between the digital experience and business outcomes was also apparent in the report’s examination of data privacy and personalisation preferences.

The analysis shows that there is a strong link between digital-experience performance and the willingness of consumers to provide private data across 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region:

• 55 percent of delighted consumers would disclose their buying preferences, 12 percent among unsatisfied customers.
• 53 percent of delighted consumers would disclose their education level, 12 percent among unsatisfied customers.
• 51 percent of delighted consumers would disclose their occupation, 11 percent among unsatisfied customers.
• 49 percent of delighted consumers would disclose their social media usage, only eight percent among unsatisfied customers.

In Southeast Asian countries, delighted consumers are far more open to sharing personal information for a better digital experience as compared to consumers in Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Japan.

For instance, consumers who were more satisfied with a digital experience were willing to share their educational level and buying preference. Consumers who had an unsatisfying digital experience were not open to sharing their mobile phone records or personal finances.

What consumers value in their digital experience

Consumers rated their satisfaction with the digital experience from individual brands across 10 industries based on 14 attributes, including security, engagement, personalisation, responsiveness, simplicity, among others.

Safe and secure was by far the most important attribute to consumers (63 percent rating this attribute as 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 to 10) when ranking the components of a delightful digital experience.

The next most important were services that are available anytime on my terms (41 percent), providing relevant offers without infringing on privacy (38 percent) and cohesive, integrated and simple (38 percent).

However, those brands that performed well also scored significantly higher in the more emotional attributes, such as predicts my preferences and excites and engages me.

Delivering delightful digital experiences

SAP noted that organisations that performed best were frequently those whose business models were developed from the ground up with the digital consumer in mind or that re-invented their business models or indeed their entire organisation for digital-first or digital only engagement.

The company’s Asia Pacific Japan Digital Experience Report looked at detailed insights about customers’ digital expectations across 10 countries in the region and the ability of brands to meet them. It drew from nearly 19,000 consumers, who rated more than 46,500 digital interactions against 14 attributes.